Hallo Liebe Familie!!
Right off, I want to wish JAKE a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! AHHHH, I
hope it was full of everything wonderful, and your favorite doughnuts, and
just, everything. I ate a muffin on the 13th, in your honor. That's as close to
a cake as I got. I love you!!!! Happy one-year older!!!!! I want to hear how it
all went, send me a letter or five.
This last week has been a crazy one, full of crazy
experiences and hard things, but also really cool. Ha, how's that for starters?
And it has a lot to do with my subject line, wowee! And I'm into my 4th week
here already! Woo hoo!
Well, to start last Monday night we had a termin with our
investigator Wischian, who basically knows everything. He's been meeting with
the missionaries now for over a year, and just can't except it until he knows
everything. We're working on him with the basics, of the godhead and faith as
those seems to be vital things he needs with his foundation. He's a frustrating
one, we just love him so much! And we always tell him, just stop thinking so
much! Ha, and he laughs about it.
Then Tuesday we had Dienst, or service. We raked leaves at
this gorgeous old building that is now an art institute. The man that owns it
is really nice, and that day was teaching a class to some handicapped people
who LOVE clay. Ha, it was the most adorable thing. And this building happened
to be situated right next to a gorgeous pond, surrounded by green fields and a
little walking path around it. I will definitely send pictures next week. And
then we headed out north a ways of Spandau to teach a darling girl named
Celine, who is 16, and just is so stoked to be baptized. She was taught all of
the lessons in America by the English missionaries, so basically we're just
clarifying them all in Deutsch, and we're hoping she'll be baptized in middle
of December if her school schedule allows for it. She's pretty golden.
And crazy, but cool story here: That day, we knew we had to
catch this train out to Celine's, which only came on a certain hour. So we left
our apartment 20 minutes early, thinking that would give us plenty of time to
make it. And just before we left, Sister Stacey said the prayer. And she asked
that we would be able to make the train in time. In my head I thought, oh, we
have plenty of time. What's she worried about? Well, we catch our first bus to
take us to the station. We're going, and it's a pretty crowded bus. Then all of
a sudden some lady runs her car right into the back of the bus! Haha, so it's
stopped for a while, we're nervously looking at our watches, then the driver
yells, "Umsteig!" Which basically means get out, and find another
bus. So we book it down the street, trying to find the next bus. But there's so
much construction along the road that we have to run down past three other bus
stops to get to one that actually is still in service. Ha, so we catch one, and
as we're almost to the station, Sis. Stacey looks at me: "We've got 3
minutes until our train leaves" So even before the bus stops, we jump from
the bus- And I have never seen anyone run so fast! Ha, we're navigating,
running up the escalator, and after some minor injuries, see the train lady
holding out her hand to the driver, saying all are aboard. Oh not quite yet!
Then with our last bit of sprinting energy, we jump into the last car of the
train, surprising some old German ladies, and the doors close right behind us.
Talk about an adventure!! So basically, I re-learned that day that prayers are
answered!! We have to put in a lot of our own effort, even if that meant a lot
of running. But because we did all we could, we made it, and as a result had an
awesome termin led by the spirit.
Then that night we
had our English/ Deutsch class. Success! We had 2 investigators come! Both
wanting to learn English. It was a little bit awkward as one investigators,
Aylin, is still mostly Muslim and as a part of her religion, can't talk to
men... and the other investigator we had there was our Mr. Friendly. An older
man that likes to give us gifts, so we had to keep a good balance going, of
keeping him focused and keeping Aylin seated. :)
Wednesday was a complete blur, ran from appointment to
appointment. Awesome people, awesome lessons. We watched a crazy dude get
kicked off the bus by the bus driver. Those are the times I'm really grateful
for loud, pushy, Germans.
Then Thursday, Jake's B-DAY, we taught soo many lessons
again. I'm so grateful that we have so many to teach, it really is so unusual
here. And we taught 4 Africans that day, fun fact. Africans are the coolest!
And one of them is a Nigerian Prince... he showed us a family home video of his
house in Nigeria, and he told us of how blessed they are from God, because of
their oil business. Wowee. He basically can be baptized tomorrow, but is
leaving for a month to Africa. But after, watch out! Germany's newest,
strongest LDS member. He offered to let us come and stay after our missions
too, free of charge! haha. All of our lessons went well, Sister Stacey let me
take the lead, as most of them were in English. And it was really cool to be
teaching about God's plan, and our life after the earth to those that have
never heard it before. It feels like such a privilige, you know? That I can be
the very first person giving them this wonderful news, and seeing the interest
in their eyes is the coolest.
We also went finding in Falkensee, but not much success. We
did a little bit of dooring too. And for dooring here, we only
"klingle" or ring their doorbell that's attached to their fence
around their property. Germans won't even let you get close to their houses
before they know you're there, haha.
Friday was full of fallen out termins. We then made lots of
visits. We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" that night in our
apartment, as part of "Film Friday".
Saturday was more service, and termins. Ha, that night we
had a termin with 3 people, one of whom is already baptized and is awesome
because she helps us teach the lesson to her grandma and little sister. The
Grandma, she lets us call her Oma, is a character. As we got pulled into eating
with them, she quickly found out how weird of an eater I am. Ha, and she just
looked at me, and bluntly said, "But, you're fat. And you're like that,
just off of cheese and bread?" Haha, oh I love her. Ha, I just laughed and
said, yep Oma!! Haha, Germans for ya! We're hoping to get her more interested
in the church. But she's really hospitable, just likes to say what's on her
mind. :)
Then Sunday was good, none of our investigators showed up,
so we were a little disappointed. But all is well, we'll try again soon!
Germany is great, there are lots of fun people here and new
personalities that always make it interesting. Most of all, this last week was
full of answers to prayers, and little things that make the difference. The
lord is very aware of the people here, I've felt His love as we've been
teaching them. It's a blessing to be a missionary, and I try to remember that
every day! It's hard sometimes when the days seem mundane, or when people
reject us, or when I don't know what/ how to teach. But it's all taken care of
when I do my best and let the Lord take over!
I love you all, thanks so much for the support! If you want
to send letters, you totally can... :) Just send them to the mission office,
that's probably easiest.
Liebe Immer,
Sister Titensor
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